Roof with gravel stop

ABSTRACT

A fascia plate extends along an edge of a substantially horizontal roofing support and is provided along its inner side with a central flange seated on and fastened to the support. The plate has a slot near its top extending lengthwise thereof and opening downwardly over the flange. A cant is mounted on the flange with its upper edge spaced below the slot. The support and the inclined face of the cant are covered by roofing sheet material. Disposed in the slot in the fascia plate is a flexible impervious flashing strip that extends downwardly over the sheet material on the cant. At least the lower edge portion of the flashing strip is sealed by asphalt or other adhesive material to the roofing sheet material.

United States Patent Fischer, Jr. et al.

[ Aug. 1, 1972 [54] ROOF WITH GRAVEL STOP [73] Assignee: All-StateIndustries,lnc.

[22] Filed: Aug. 13, 1970 211 Appl. No.: 63,464

[52] U.S. Cl ..52/94, 52/60 [51] Int. Cl. ..E04b 7/02 [58] Field ofSearch ..52/94, 95, 96, 58,60

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,585,324 2/1952 Hutchisson,Jr. et al. ..52/96 3,024,573 3/1962 McKinley ..52/96 2,857,861 10/1958Trostle ..52/94 3,132,445 5/1964 Swanson .......52/94 3,256,650 6/1966Weckerly et al ..52/84 3,404,495 10/1968 Simpson, Jr ..52/96 X l/l969 LaBarge ..52/94 X 7/1956 Hotz ..52/59 X Primary Examiner-Alfred C. PerhamAttorney-Brown, Murray, Flick & Peckham 5 7] ABSTRACT A fascia plateextends along an edge of a substantially horizontal roofing support andis provided along its inner side with a central flange seated on andfastened to the support. The plate has a slot near its top extendinglengthwise thereof and opening downwardly over the flange. A cant ismounted on the flange with its upper edge spaced below the slot. Thesupport and the inclined face of the cant are covered by roofing sheetmaterial. Disposed in the slot in the fascia plate is a imperviousflashing strip that extends downwardly over the sheet material on thecant. At least the lower edge portion of the flashing strip is sealed byasphalt or other adhesive material to the roofing sheet material.

5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures 'PATE'N'TEDAus H912 .680.269" sum 2 or 2HARRY F. FISCHER, JR. JOHN M LANG 1 .8)

A TTORNEYS ROOF WITH GRAVEL STOP Flat or low slope roofs often include acovering of several layers of roofing sheet material such as tar paperor asphalt-saturated paper felt. These layers or membranes are joinedtogether by coating each one in succession with a layer of hot asphalt.To improve such roofs and lengthen their lives, they are covered with alayer of granular material, generally called gravel even though it maybe slag or some other material. This grave] is held in place by acoating of bitumen on top of the uppermost membrane. Nevertheless, thegravel becomes loosened to some extent, so to prevent it from beingwashed off the roof by rains where the roof is not surrounded by anupstanding masonry wall, a construction known as a gravel stop has beenused. This has taken various forms, but it includes a metal fascia thatextends above and below the surrounded area of the roof. The fasciagenerally is nailed to the underlying roof support and a triangular cantis laid along the inner surface of the fascia to prevent water spillageover the edge, since roof areas are seldom dead level and may not drainfast enough to prevent overflow. To cover the nails and seal the nailholes, the marginal areas of the roof membranes extend out to thefascia, but this presents a problem of sealing the edges of themembranes so that water will not seep between, them and the fascia, andhigh winds will not remove membranes. These problems require a metalstrip overlying the top of the plate and the edge of the membrane. Inaddition, it also requires fasteners that must penetrate the membranesto.hold the membranes and the strip in place. Also, the cost ofinstallation is high with present twopiece canted roof eave fasciaswherever different labor unions are involved. Thus, a member of thesheet metal union must install the fascia, the members of the roofersunion lay the roof and then the sheet metal workers must return tofasten the metal covering strip in place over the marginal area of themembranes. The second trip of the sheet metal workers materiallyincreases the cost of constructing the roof, particularly for distantjobs.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide a roof with acanted gravel stop fascia of simple and inexpensive construction, whichdoes not require fasteners to penetrate the roofing membrane, and whichrequires only one trip to be made by sheet metal workers.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a fragmentary outside view ofa building provided with my fascia;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view, with parts broken away to show thedifferent elements; and

FIG. 3 is a vertical section taken on the line IIIIII of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 3 of the drawings, a flat or horizontal or nearlyhorizontal roof includes a roofing support formed from a flat deck 1supported by the wall 2 of the building or an overhand, or extended decksuch as a canopy. This deck may be covered directly by roofing sheetmaterial or there may be an intervening layer of insulation 3. In thelatter case the insulation is surrounded by wooden nailer strips 4 thatare fastened to the edge of the deck. After the roofing support has beenbuilt, sheet metal workers install a surrounding fascia.

The fascia is formed from plates 6 disposed on edge. Each plate extendsseveral feet along the building wall and several inches above and belowthe roofing support. The plates are placed end to end with enough spaceat the joints to allow for thermal expansion. To hold the plates inplace, each has a central flange 7 extending along its inner side andseated on the adjoining nailer strip 4 or deck proper. Preferably, theflange and plate are integral and may be formed by extrusion. The flangeis fastened in the center of each section with two screws 9 which extenddown into the nailer strip. This permits the fascia flange to expand andcontract, limiting the movement on each side of the screws to onehalfthe total. The ends of adjacent flanges are spaced apart and held downby a splice plate 10 secured only to the underlying nailer strip. Thesplice plate does not interfere with expansion and contraction of theflanges. The lower marginal area of fascia plate 6 preferably is turnedoutwardly so that water running down the plate will be directed out awayfrom the underlying side of the building.

Seated on the fascia flange 7 is a roofers cant 11, which is atriangular strip that extends along the fascia. It is generally made ofa fibrous material and soft enough so that it can be pushed down overthe heads of the screws. The upper edge of the cant is spaced below thetop of the fascia.

In accordance with this invention, the top of the fascia plate isthickened inwardly relative to the plate below it, as shown in FIG. 3.This thickened portion is provided with a slot 13 that extendslengthwise of the fascia and opens downwardly over the cant and flange7. Preferably, the slot is inclined to about the same extent as theinclined surface of the cant. Disposed in this slot is the upper edge ofa flexible impervious flashing strip 14 that extends along the fasciaand projects from one end far enough to overlap the adjoining end of asimilar flashing strip supported by the next fascia plate, as shown inFIG. 2. To hold the strip in the slot, it is desirable to provide theupper edge of the strip with a bead 15 and to enlarge the inner portionof the slot to receive it. The strip is assembled with the fascia plateat the factory by inserting one end of the bead into one end of the slotand then pulling the strip along the plate to slide the bead along theslot until the strip extends the full length of the slot. It will beseen that the bead prevents the strip from being pulled down out of theslot. The top of the fascia preferably is provided with a lip 16 thatextends downwardly below its slot to help prevent rain water from beingblown up into the slot. It is desirable to deliver the fascia to the jobwith the flashing strip folded out over the top of the fascia and downits outer surface, to which it can be attached by adhesive tape. Thiskeeps the flashing strip out of the way while the fascia is beinginstalled.

After the fascia has been mounted in place on the roofing support bysheet metal workers, the roofers move in, install the cant l1 and thenlay the roofing sheet material 18 or membranes in the conventionalmanner by alternating them with coatings of bitumen 19. The marginalarea of the sheet material is laid on the inclined surface of the cantand terminates near its upper edge. After all of the membranes have beenlaid, the top one is coated with bitumen or other adhesive material andthen the roofers detach flashing strip 14 from the outer surface of thefascia and swing it inwardly over the roof. The strip is pressed down inthe hot layer of bitumen. The flashing strip not only covers the cant,but generally is wide enough to extend a short distance inwardly awayfrom it. Of course, it bridges the space between the edge of the sheetmaterial and the inner surface of the fascia plate.

After the flashing strip has been laid down in this manner, the roofersapply gravel 20, if required, in the usual way to the exposed top layerof asphalt on the sheet material and a coating of bitumen 21 that theyhave also applied to the lower area of the flashing strip. It will beseen that there are no fastening members penetrating the flashing stripor the membranes beneath it and that the roof is thoroughly sealedagainst leakage.

The space between the ends of adjacent fascia plates 6 is covered by ametal strip 22 (FIG. 1) that is hooked over the lips 16 of the twoplates and that extends down flat against their outer surfaces and thenoutwardly over their inclined lower edges. The lower end of the stripextends inwardly across the lower edge of the fascia and is bentupwardly behind it to lock the strip in place. Since installation of theflexible flashing strip does not require a member of the sheet metalworkers union, it is unnecessary for such a person to make a second tripin order to finish the roofing.

When the fascia expands and contracts lengthwise, it will slide alongthe flashing strip bead l and not disturb that strip and the roofingmembranes beneath it, to which the strip is attached.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, we have explainedthe principle of our invention and have illustrated and described whatwe now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, we desire tohave it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, theinvention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustratedand described.

We claim:

1. A roof comprising a substantially horizontal roofing support, a metalfascia plate extending on edge along an edge of said support andprovided along its inner side with a central flange seated on thesupport, fasteners attaching said flange to said support to hold theplate in place, the plate having a slot near its top extendinglengthwise thereof and opening downwardly over said flange, the upperportion of said slot being enlarged in cross section, a cant mounted onsaid flange, the upper edge of the cant being spaced below said slot,roofing sheet material covering said support and the inclined face ofthe cant, a flexible impervious flashing strip having an upper edgeprovided with an integral bead disposed in said enlarged portion of theslot to hold the strip therein, said bead being slidable lengthwise inthe slot, the flashing strip extending downwardly over the sheetmaterial on said cant, and adhesive material sealing at least the loweredge portion of the strip to said roofing sheet material.

2. A roof according to claim 1, including a plurality of said fasciaplates disposed end to end with expansion space between them, saidfasteners extending through each fascia plate flange substantiallymidway between its ends only, and each of said fascia plates supportingth b d f 'dfl hin str' 3. if r80 it cor i ng o cia im 2, including asplice seat on and be secured to a roof edge member with the portion ofthe plate below the flange overlapping the side of the building, saidplate having a slot near its top extending lengthwise thereof andopening downwardly over said flange, the upper portion of said slotbeing enlarged in cross section, and a flexible impervious flashingstrip for overlying said flange and the roof adjacent thereto, the upperedge of said sheet being provided with an integral bead disposed in saidenlarged portion of the slot to hold the strip in the slot and slidablelengthwise relative thereto, whereby when the fascia plate expands andcontracts lengthwise it can slide along the flashing strip.

5. In a gravel stop according to claim 4, said plate being an extrusionwith its top thickened inwardly over said flange, and said slot beinglocated in the thickened portion and inclined downwardly and inwardly.

1. A roof comprising a substantially horizontal roofing support, a metalfascia plate extending on edge along an edge of said support andprovided along its inner side with a central flange seated on thesupport, fasteners attaching said flange to said support to hold theplate in place, the plate having a slot near its top extendinglengthwise thereof and opening downwardly over said flange, the upperportion of said slot being enlarged in cross section, a cant mounted onsaid flange, the upper edge of the cant being spaced below said slot,roofing sheet material covering said support and the inclined face ofthe cant, a flexible impervious flashing strip having an upper edgeprovided with an integral bead disposed in said enlarged portion of theslot to hold the strip therein, said bead being slidable lengthwise inthe slot, the flashing strip extending downwardly over the sheetmaterial on said cant, and adhesive material sealing at least the loweredge portion of the strip to said roofing sheet material.
 2. A roofaccording to claim 1, including a plurality of said fascia platesdisposed end to end with expansion space between them, said fastenersextending through each fascia plate flange substantially midway betweenits ends only, and each of said fascia plates supporting the bead of asaid flashing strip.
 3. A roof according to claim 2, including a spliceplate overlapping and seated on the adjacent end portions of adjacentfascia plates, and fasteners attaching the splice plate to said supportonly between said ends.
 4. In a gravel stop for a building roof, ahorizontally elongated metal fascia plate provided along one side with acentral horizontally projecting flange adapted to seat on and be securedto a roOf edge member with the portion of the plate below the flangeoverlapping the side of the building, said plate having a slot near itstop extending lengthwise thereof and opening downwardly over saidflange, the upper portion of said slot being enlarged in cross section,and a flexible impervious flashing strip for overlying said flange andthe roof adjacent thereto, the upper edge of said sheet being providedwith an integral bead disposed in said enlarged portion of the slot tohold the strip in the slot and slidable lengthwise relative thereto,whereby when the fascia plate expands and contracts lengthwise it canslide along the flashing strip.
 5. In a gravel stop according to claim4, said plate being an extrusion with its top thickened inwardly oversaid flange, and said slot being located in the thickened portion andinclined downwardly and inwardly.